


Day Eighteen

by walkerofthestars



Series: Whumptober 2020 [18]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Demon Summoning, Demon!Dick Grayson, Dick being a disaster bi, Klarion decides to fuck about, M/M, Panic!at the disco - Freeform, Wally West is a hero, Wally is Zatara's apprentice, Whumptober 2020, Zatanna is the Flash's apprentice, he really just be flirting with anything that moves, in his defence, its cause he knows it makes Wally uncomfortable, magician!Wally West, panic attacks phobias paranoia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:28:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28138446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/walkerofthestars/pseuds/walkerofthestars
Summary: Whumptober 2020Panic! at the discoPanic attacks, phobias, paranoiaHe took a deep breath, “I need you to attend a function with me as a guard.”Richardicus raised an eyebrow, “oh?”“I suspect that people may be injured via magical means, likely meddling from the lord of Chaos known as Klarion,” Wally explained, Richardicus scowled at the name of the witch-boy, “I would like you to come with me under the disguise of my date, and protect everyone if the function is attacked.”“and what will you give me?” he smiled, “your soul?”Wally swallowed. “if I have to.”
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Wally West
Series: Whumptober 2020 [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2055567
Kudos: 27





	Day Eighteen

**Author's Note:**

> I cannot state enough how much _fun_ I had writing this one. like, regardless of where it sits on the ranks of least to most favourite, it was definitely one of the better ones during the writing process because it was so damn fun.

Wally stepped back from the circle and cracked his knuckles, shaking out his hands as he took deep breaths.

“okay, here we go,” he muttered to himself, picking up the old book and opening it at the page he’d marked out, “this had better work.”

He began the enchantment, walking around the chalk circle he’d drawn as he did so. He unconsciously got louder as he spoke, looking between the words scratched into the book and the glowing crystals and runes he’d placed in the circle.

He finished the enchantment and stepped back, “Demon, I summon thee!”

Nothing happened. He frowned.

“uh…” he stared at the circle, “hello?”

Nothing happened. He checked over his enchantments, it all seemed in order. Had he pronounced some of the words wrong? He started the enchantment from the beginning.

Nothing happened.

He tried it another three times. Nothing happened. He groaned in frustration. It had to be something wrong with the summoning circle. Summoning wasn’t his thing, he should have studied it more but he usually didn’t need it in fast-paced combat situations like what he dealt with when crime fighting.

He re-did the circle, making sure every line was perfect, every crystal was in the right spot.

He circled it once more, running through the incantation with practised ease.

“demon I _summon thee!_ ”

And finally, the circle exploded in a dark shadow of smoke. It pressed against the barrier of the circle’s edge, begging to get out into the real world and wreak havoc. The circle held strong, the demon was trapped inside. The explosion of smoke collapsed in on itself, drawing into a shape that was somewhat human. Their skin was ash grey, eyes a piercing glowing blue, horns coiled from their head, the ridges glowing the same colour of his eyes. A fanged mouth leered at him.

Finally.

Some days Richardicus was able to completely dedicate himself to the whole shebang. The crazed, angry screaming of the damned as you were summoned by an idiot wanting to make a deal, the dramatic roman-era speaking patterns, the hissing and fanged smile, the explosion of magic revealing a manic demon, screeching ‘WHO HAST DARED SUMMON ME?’

Today was not one of those days.

Heck, this hadn’t been one of those _centuries_. As far as he was concerned, the twenty-first century fucking _sucked_. He missed the 1800s, those were fun.

He missed being a human, but that was not something he could voice, so for now he was stuck pretending he didn’t miss his old life before those stupid heroes of old had come after all magic-users and overcome them in all kinds of ways. He was one of the unlucky damned souls who’d been picked out by the demonic higher-ups as someone with potential. And now here he was, being summoned to some teenager’s basement. He was not interested in collecting their soul, he was interested in having a day off in one of the least horribly disgusting circles of hell.

But no, the teen was adamant and annoying- no matter that, by demon age standards, he could be considered a teen himself, especially seeing as he was a teen when he died and became a demon- but he had to come to his summons. That didn’t mean he had to enjoy it.

He emerged in the circle, the usual smoky explosion of magic coming with him as he crossed from the realm of dark, unforgiving magic, and into the human world.

He levelled an annoyed glare on the teen.

“ _what_?”

The teen blinked, surprised and confused.

“uh…” they stuttered, “hi?”

He kept up his glare, “ _what_ do you _want_ human?”

They swallowed down their fear, composing themselves and straightening their jacket. Richardicus was surprised a magician of this age could summon him. he was a high-level demon, stronger than most, he wasn’t some tiny crossroads demon who could make a deal and come back in ten years for a person’s soul.

“My name is Wally,” they introduced. Oh, a real amateur, huh? You weren’t supposed to just _give away_ a name like it was nothing. Although, then again, Richardicus hadn’t asked for it, and the wording was arbitrary enough that it was less a giving over of a name and more of a ‘this is what I have, it’s not yours’ kind of statement. Richardicus held in a groan, why did the fae have to make the rules of names so ridiculous and convoluted?

“what do you want, _Wally_?”

He took a deep breath, “I need you to attend a function with me as a guard.”

Richardicus raised an eyebrow, “oh?”

“I suspect that people may be injured via magical means, likely meddling from the lord of Chaos known as Klarion,” Wally explained, Richardicus scowled at the name of the witch-boy, “I would like you to come with me under the disguise of my date, and protect everyone if the function is attacked.”

“and what will you give me?” he smiled, “your soul?”

Wally swallowed. “if I have to.”

Richardicus raised an eyebrow.

“but I thought you might prefer,” he fished something out of a pocket inside his jacket, “this.”

Richardicus levelled his eyes on the trinket. It looked like a sapphire, an oval of smoothed gemstone. But he recognised the whispers of magic that had been done on it. it was prepared to be an anchor.

“a dangerous offer,” he said, “to give a demon a foothold in this world.”

Wally nodded, “I know, but…” he pursed his lips, clearly trying to remain stoic, “if my research is correct you were once human, I think you’ll prefer this to my soul.”

That was true. If the offer was merely Wally’s soul he likely wouldn’t have taken it.

“so you want me to be your bodyguard for this… function,” Richardicus said, “and protect people from Klarion.”

“or whoever else may attempt to harm people during the time of the party.”

Richardicus made a face. The kid wasn’t too big of an amateur, he knew to keep his wording specific.

“and in return you give me the anchor, and I get to roam around your little sunny planet,” he mused. He liked this deal, more than he’d liked any deal he’d ever made in his life, “prove the anchor is real.” He said as a way to make the boy squirm.

Wally made a face, but handed it to him in the circle, “it won’t take you till the deal’s made.”

“I know how it works, kid,” he scowled, looking at the gem. It was real. He threw it in the air and caught it a few times as he thought. “okay, I’ll do it,” he said, smiling, “it’s a deal.”

He threw the gem again and Wally watched as it seemed to move in slow motion. It became embedded in a dark metal clasp, hanging from a chain. As the demon caught it again his body shifted.

Wally gaped at the form he took.

He looked about sixteen, as tall as Wally. His blue eyes were just as piercing. His ash grey skin turned to a slight tan, the inky blackness of his magic became dark hair, his fangs an opalescent white set of normal human teeth. He was lean, wearing black slacks, a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled to the elbows and a dark blue waistcoat with a low neckline. His bare forearms sported an inky black swirl of writhing tattoos that ran down to his ring and middle fingers. He put the necklace on, the chain long enough that it sat just above the neckline of his waistcoat, a dark blue shining gem that whispered magical secrets about who it was hiding.

“how do I look?” he asked, smirk almost as devilish as he was, “you’ll have to show me what you’re wearing so I can appropriately match.”

Wally blinked, “excuse me?”

“well,” he stepped out of the circle, rolling his shoulders as he became officially standing in the human realm, “if I’m gonna masquerade as your date we’ll have to look the part.”

Wally almost choked. He mustered up his final piece of courage, “what was your name again?”

“you may call me Richard,” he introduced.

Wally’s main concern, until the party, was keeping Richard hidden. his mere presence in the world could set off alarms and signals to any magic users in the area. Luckily, Wally’s uncle was the Flash, which meant he didn’t recognise the demonic presence now living as Wally’s room-mate. Flash also spent a lot of time away from the house, working with Kid Flash, Wally’s friend Zatanna.

The next thing he had to worry about was his own mentor- Zatara, who was a magician and had taught Wally almost everything he knew. Seeing as Wally made the deal Richard had decided to follow him everywhere. He had glamoured himself so Zatara couldn’t see him, but Wally knew it was only a matter of time till he sensed something.

And then there was just basic life problems. Richard was a demon, he didn’t eat normal food, he lived off life energy. There was an abundance of it in the human world that was readily available, but Wally was worried he’d go off and kill someone, because he often preferred not to follow him around while Wally was at school.

“learn anything interesting today?” Richard asked, reclining on Wally’s bed.

Wally rolled his eyes and dropped his school bag by his desk, “it’s the American school system, what do you think?”

Richard snorted, playing with something in his hands.

“what’s that?” Wally asked.

“nothing.”

“give it here.”

Richard stuck out his tongue and handed it to him, “I didn’t steal it from you.”

“where did you get this?” he asked, staring at the coin.

“it’s mine,” Richard shrugged, taking it back, “I used to be human remember?” he said, smiling and flipping the coin in the air with an echoing ‘ting!’.

Wally frowned at it. it was gold, irregular, the head of a monarch on one side. it looked almost like a drachma or something, like an ancient coin.

Because it was. His eyes widened with realisation.

“you were buried with it?” Wally just touched a coin that touched Richard’s dead body, he felt like he might throw up.

“my mother put it on my eyes to pay the ferryman,” he said, still flipping it, “only had one though, not enough, I was supposed to be damned to the shores for a good hundred years or so.”

Wally stared, confused. He had known this demon was once human, but knowing was different to hearing anecdotes.

“how’d you die?”

Was that a bad question to ask?

“you don’t have to answer-“

Richard snorted, “it’s fine, I’ve been dead for centuries, it’s lost the…” he waved his hand, looking for a word, “punch.”

“so how’d you die?”

“eh, way-back-when people hated magic a lot more than some realise, at least where I lived they did,” he shrugged, “a bunch of heroes decided to save the country from a few bad magicians, and along the way decided the rest of us magic-folk were just as bad. They killed us where we stood.” he tossed the coin, it landed in his hand with a sound of finality, “I was a Warlock.”

Waly stared, “who’d you pray for?”

He shrugged, “Athena, mainly. But I trifled with Hermes and Morrigan and…” he trailed then cleared his throat. He forced a smile, grinning, “then they cast me out as soon as I died and let me be taken by the underworld.”

Wally’s trance of interest broke as soon as Richard’s grin appeared. He swallowed, remembering the fangs of the demon who’d been inside the circle. He turned to his cupboard and fished out a change of clothes.

“I’m going into town later,” he said.

“oh, fun, what are we doing?”

“you can’t come.”

Richard made an insulted face.

“you-“

He heard Barry coming down the hall.

“glamour yourself, quick!” he hissed.

The door opened before he could do so.

“Barry!” Wally grinned, “what’s up?”

Barry blinked, confused by Wally’s demeanour. Wally discreetly looked behind him and found Richard gone, his necklace sitting in the folds of Wally’s bedsheets.

“just reminding you that you’re supposed to go to the mountain today,” Barry said.

“yeah, I know, how could I forget?”

“right,” Barry started closing the door as he left, but turned back, “were you talking to someone?”

“what? No. why would I… pffft,” Wally waved a dismissive hand.

“okay,” Barry frowned, confused, but walked away.

Wally sagged, sighing in relief. He turned back to his bed. The necklace seemed to glow slightly and then Richard appeared from it like a spirit. He held the necklace, staring at Wally with a raised brow.

“the mountain?” he asked.

Wally groaned, “okay, I lied.”

“what is this… mountain?” Richard asked, slipping the necklace over his head once more.

“don’t worry about it, you’re not coming.”

“like hell,” Richard grinned.

Wally rolled his eyes and went to take a shower.

Wally zeta-ed into the mountain, trying not to look at the glamoured demon walking by his side.

“Wally!” Zatanna greeted, “what took you so long?”

“probably forgot,” Artemis snickered.

“I did not,” Wally scowled.

“doesn’t matter, he’s here now,” Canary interrupted, “so it’s time to start training. Hustle up.” She ordered, “today we’re going over hand-to-hand fighting.”

Wally wanted to groan. He was a magic user, his thing was fancy words and quick spells, not judo and karate. But nevertheless, Canary was adamant that they all learn some basics.

Richard leaned against the rock wall, staring at everyone in the room with annoyance and distaste.

“you never said you were a hero,” he leered. Wally wanted to talk to him, but he’d prefer to not look insane in front of his team mates.

“okay, so today we’ll go over some blocks,” Canary began, going into an explanation of what she was teaching them. Wally stared at Richard from across the room. The demon stood from the wall and began walking between the inhabitants of the training room, making faces.

“ooh, muscley,” he said, walking around Superboy. Wally wanted to strangle the demon. Conner couldn’t see him, was standing and focusing on what Canary was saying, completely unaware of the monster an inch from him.

Richard circled till he came behind Wally and leaned against his side, elbow propped on his shoulder. Wally tried not to let on that there was a weight on him, whilst also trying to stay focused on Canary’s lesson.

“you know that archery chick over there’s kinda cute, you should’ve asked _her_ out to the party.”

“okay, let’s see if you got all that, M’Gann, Zatanna, give it a shot,” Canary said, letting the two take the floor and try the manoeuvre Canary had been teaching.

Wally cleared his throat and hunched his shoulders a little to make Richard lose balance. Richard scowled, slid off, stood straight and hmphed.

“you know for a bunch of heroes you’re real boring,” he said, “oh, look, is that an Atlantean? Oh my god, I haven’t seen one of those since Henry the eighth’s reign.”

He walked over to Kaldur, rocking on his heels as he got a look at him.

“combat sorcerer, like you, cool,” Richard said, “look at him standing stock still, I bet if I poke him he won’t move.” Wally glanced over, was he actually going to… Richard’s finger moved closer to his face, teasing. He looked at Wally, “he’s cute, too, by the way, you could’ve taken _him_ as your guard.”

As his finger moved closer to Kaldur’s cheek Wally watched, hoping he wouldn’t actually make contact. Wally was quite sure the glamour Richard had on was the type that dissolved on-contact because it ruined the illusion. Before Richard could touch Kaldur’s cheek the Atlantean moved.

He snatched Richard’s hand from the air and glared at him. Wally could see the effect of the glamour disappear.

“oh,” Richard said, smiling at Kaldur, “hello there.”

“who are you?” Kaldur asked, eyes narrowed and mouth slowly turning to a scowl, “how did you get in here?”

The rest of the inhabitants of the room turned to the demon, faces slack with shock and confusion.

“answer the question,” canary ordered, coming out of the confusion first.

“hey, I’ll have you know that I was _invited_ ,” he said, “fair and square.”

“by whom?” Kaldur asked.

Wally cleared his throat, rubbing at the back of his neck, embarrassed. They all turned to look at him.

“He’s here to help tomorrow night, in case Klarion attacks.”

Zatanna sighed, annoyed. The rest looked like they understood.

“the league has put defences in,” Canary said, “you didn’t need to ask this…” she looked at him, “sorcerer? For help.”

Richard made an insulted face, he clicked his fingers and the wrist Kaldur held turned to smoke, it sped away from the Atlantean’s grip and reformed into Richard’s hand, “I,” he held the hand to his chest, necklace shining, “am a respectable Demon, thank you very much.”

Zatanna turned and glared at Wally, “YOU SUMMONED A DEMON?”

Wally winced.

“what did you give him?” Kaldur asked.

Richard held up the necklace, “this.” he grinned, “it think it goes with my eyes.”

Canary rubbed at her temples, “okay, all of you, in the lounge room, I’m calling Zatara,” she sighed, then pointed at Richard, “you. Follow me.”

“hey, I have a name,” Richard scowled.

“don’t care,” Canary rolled her eyes and turned, walking out, “follow.”

Wally gave him a pleading look with the clear meaning of ‘please don’t kill anyone’, then followed the rest of his friends to ‘the lounge room’. Richard groaned but followed Canary out.

“I hate you,” Wally said, flopping on his bed, “ _so. Much_.”

“aww, shucks,” Richard drawled, “I’m hurt.” He sat down on the edge of the bed, Wally’s back behind him.

“honestly, fuck you.”

“hey, it’s fine,” Richard shrugged, “the heroes decided to allow me to go. no problem-o.”

Wally groaned.

“well, have fun getting your beauty sleep,” Richard drawled, “the party is tomorrow, technically today cause it’s one in the morning. You need to look good,” he played with his necklace, “terribly difficult for you, I’m sure. By the way I snuck a look at your outfit, so I can coordinate.”

Wally said nothing.

“Wally?” Richard frowned, turning to look at him, “did you hear me?”

Wally was asleep.

Wally was struggling to do up his tie.

He scowled, watching himself do it in the mirror. Every way he tried wasn’t working. He groaned and slammed his head against his wardrobe door. It rocked, the mirror hanging from the point on the inside of the door. Wally tried once more to tie the stupid thing.

Richard closed the door, appearing behind it, “hey ginger.”

Wally jumped, “what the hell!”

Richard just grinned.

Wally’s eyes turned to saucers as he checked out Richard’s outfit. He had indeed coordinated it. Wally had gone for a basic suit with a copper tie and cuff links, his black leather shoes shone with matching bronze accents. Richard wore his usual black slacks but had switched his white button up shirt for a black one, his waistcoat low-necked but now a dark brown with copper detailing, black on the back. his blue necklace stuck out, shining, against the material. His hair was gelled so it sat nicely and the cuffs of his shirt had bronze detailing sewn in.

“uh,” Wally stuttered, “where did you get those clothes?”

“magic,” Richard grinned. His eyes landed on the tie hanging around Wally’s neck, undone, “here, let me.”

He stepped closer, hands going to the tie and wrapping it with expert hands, “I’ll go for double Windsor, okay?”

“sure, I know what that is.”

Richard snickered, finished the knot and then fixed Wally’s lapels, hands warm. Wally fought a blush. Richard stepped back to take it in, “very dapper,” he said.

“I feel like I’m in dress up or something,” Wally said, playing with his shirt cuffs.

“don’t worry, I’ll be hanging off your arm,” Richard said, “they’ll be too busy watching me to care how out of place you look.”

“hey,” Wally snickered, “rude. And if anything _I’m_ the arm candy.”

“keep telling yourself that, ginger,” Richard smiled.

“are you saying you _want_ to be the trophy husband?”

“are you asking?” Richard raised an eyebrow.

“I- yes?” Wally cocked his head, then went wide eyed and turned redder than his hair, “asking about- the, uh, the question. I’m asking the question, not asking if- uh, you know.”

Richard cackled, “chill, you’re seventeen, I’m joking.”

“I dunno, when you were my age marrying young was normal.”

Richard snorted, shoulders shaking, “don’t make assumptions, kid-wizard.”

“it’s Nox,” Wally scowled, “the hero-name is _Nox_ , how is that hard to remember?”

“probably cause the name doesn’t match your hair,” Richard wrinkled his nose, “what kind of titan being of night has _orange_ hair?”

Wally dropped his head back as he groaned, “shut up it was Zatara’s idea.”

“why?”

“because I was really good at shadow magic when I was twelve.”

“huh,” Richard shrugged, “okay, not as cool a story as I thought.”

“Wally, time to go!” Barry called out from down the hall.

“ooh, did you rent a limo?”

“it’s a charity gala, not a fucking prom.”

“so no limo? Damn,” Richard sighed, “is there at least booze?”

Wally levelled an annoyed look on him, “just promise me you’ll behave.”

“I don’t make promises I can’t keep, shadow-boy, but I’ll try not to make the night collapse into havoc.”

Wally left that stupid little demon alone for _two seconds_ and he was being an idiot.

He returned to his friends, sitting at a table together, with a few drinks.

“why does Artemis have a knife?” Wally asked, looking at Richard.

“she said she felt unsafe,” Richard said with a shrug.

“I’m sitting next to a centuries-old demon,” Artemis explained.

“yeah, well,” Wally sat down, “she can’t have a knife in the middle of a civilian charity gala. There are paparazzi. People will feel unsafe.”

Richard blinked, looking around at the crowd, “do… they want knives?”

Wally sighed and dropped his head in his hands. Zatanna laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“you did this to yourself, dude,” Artemis drawled, playing with her new knife, “you’re the one who summoned him.”

“yeah,” Richard said, leaning over from the chair he sat in, “you’re stuck with me now.”

“only till this party’s done,” Wally said, looking up and holding a finger in Richard’s face, “then you can fuck off and go annoy some people across the country.”

Richard groaned, “dunno this place is kinda fun and your friends here are cool.”

M’Gann smiled, “aww, thanks, I always wanted to be seen as cool from a demon’s perspective.”

Dick held a hand out to her, looking at Wally like ‘see?’, “she gets it.”

“Don’t encourage him,” Wally said.

“hey, you should come join the gang,” Artemis said, snickering, “we have one combat sorcerer, but like, who can say having a demon watching our backs would be a bad thing.”

“ooh, would I get to beat up bad guys?”

“definitely,” Conner grunted.

“don’t join in on this, come on,” Waly pleaded.

“no I have to admit, Artemis is right,” Kaldur said, face completely straight but Wally could see him fighting a smile.

Wally sunk into his chair, “why do you all hate me?”

“because you summoned a demon to protect people from a threat that doesn’t exist,” Richard said, “like an idiot.”

It was at that moment that the side of the building exploded.

Richard hadn’t had this much fun in _decades_.

There were all kinds of enemies, not just magic ones. Whenever he’d finished taking down one person he turned to find another.

And then his eyes landed on Klarion. He grinned, vaulting over enemies and doing a quick levitation spell to zoom over.

“Witch boy!” Richard called out. Klarion turned to him.

“you!” Klarion scowled, his voice just as gratingly annoying as it always was, “what are you doing here?!”

“unimportant, I’m just here to beat your ass into the ground,” his hands moved through the air, creating rings of glowing runes.

Klarion growled, teeth sharpened and eyes manic, his cat was off in the distance battling someone.

“go home, little demon,” Klarion leered, “this isn’t your fight.”

“don’t care, won’t care, what were you saying?” Richard grinned. He cast the runes into a circular chain, the air whipped up around them and created a barrier that lifted them into the air, a battleground, readymade, Klarion wouldn’t touch anyone else.

“no!” Klarion screeched, “no, no, no, no, no!”

Richard’s eyes glowed blue, his anchor was burning hot against his chest with the amount of power it was putting into keeping him anchored in this world when he was using so much demonic magic.

“quit it, Richardicus! Heroism and demonic deals got boring with the Romans!”

Klarion sent a barrage of fiery red energy at him. Richard caught all the bolts on shields which became black smoke that he drew together into a wall of magic, sending it racing at Klarion. Once it cleared it revealed Klarion surrounded by a wall of slowly disappearing red-

Klarion didn’t expect Richard to see that coming.

As the ball disappeared it revealed Richard, jumping in with a punch aimed straight for Klarion’s face.

Klarion went sprawling, sending a glare with more heat in it than a volcano, “why would you want to help the humans?!”

“oh, it’s personal!” Richard roared, his horns curling from his head and his teeth turning sharp. He drew up power, a wave of dark magic rising up behind him, his clothes whipping in the wind. The wave came crashing down on Klarion, he was pushed against the wall of magic Richard had created for their arena, but he managed to shield himself.

“you’re not still mad about that are you?” Klarion cackled.

“you tricked me!” Richard shrieked and with his voice came the sounds of every soul he’d ever damned, “you told me you’d save my family! that you’d protect us!”

“I told you that I’d stop them from killing your mother, and I never gave a cost,” Klarion hissed, his tongue was that of a snake’s, “I’m sure you know the importance of a _cost_!”

“you want a cost?” Richard’s hand moved through the air once more, magic spiralling, twisting on itself into thousands of runes and spells and enchantments, “here’s your cost for tricking me.” The anchor gave up covering his appearance, just keeping him anchored but leaving the demon visible, “I’m better than you now,” he said, eyes sparking in blue flames, horns twisted and fangs shining.

The enchantments came down, more powerful than any spell he’d ever done. It couldn’t kill Klarion, not when his cat was still alive, but it reduced him to almost nothing, a shadow of what he was.

Richard scowled but let the arena fall away, allowing himself to stand on the ground once more. He slipped the human appearance back on, stretching out his back, and turned to the battle, readying spells to send flying at the cat.

“you stopped too quick,” Klarion hissed.

Richard whipped to look at him. he’d dredged up some final magic and sent it flying. Richard threw up a shield but-

It wasn’t aimed at him.

It went flying, straight for Wally.

“NO!”

Richard sped over to Wally, ignoring Klarion as he summoned his cat and disappeared.

He was too late. The magic hit Wally. Richard caught him as he fell.

“oh, shit, shit, shit, fuck, shit,” Richard hissed, eyes flying over Wally’s body, trying to figure out what kind of wound it was, “hey! He needs a medic!”

Wally hissed as Richard shifted him, wincing and choking out, “ow.”

“hey, hey, just stay awake, okay?” Richard rushed out, “I don’t know a lot of healing magic but I’ll sort something.”

Wally snickered and winced again, looking Richard in the eyes, “softy.”

“shut up,” Richard ground out past his teeth, “shut up and don’t die on me, okay?”

So Wally had grown on him in the past week, what could Richard say? A couple hundred years without contact with anyone who wasn’t animalistic to you made one touch starved and in need of a connection.

And Wally’s smile had been infectious and his jokes were adorable and when the light hit his eyes right they sparkled and oh shit Richard really liked Wally, huh?

And he didn’t know healing magic, other than the basics.

“ad sanadum vulnes,” he chanted, “caro mente unoque consilio.”

“is that Latin?” Wally grinned, “cute.”

Richard groaned in frustration. He shifted Wally so he was holding him with one arm around the shoulders, leaning against Richard’s chest. He let his hand hover over the burnt magic spread over his chest. He took a deep breath and his hand glowed.

“nisi pro ratione voluntas Dei,” Richard hissed, “nisi Deus damnit, damnit, shit, _fuck_ ,” his hand became a fist and he scrunched his eyes shut, “what are the fucking _words_?”

Wally took a deep breath and reached up, holding Richard’s hand with a smile, “try it backwards.”

“what?”

Wally cleared his throat, “leah,” he got out, struggling to breathe, “hself eht…” he winced, eyes fluttering as he slumped further in Richard’s grip.

“no, no, no, stay awake, okay? Awake, come on,” Richard said, words rushing out of his mouth, “mih leah, mih evas, erac tnod I, flesmih tsirhc susej gnikcuf,” he hissed, hoping Wally’s stupid backwards talk would work, “nagirrom, semreh, anethe, tinmad dog, mih evas.”

His hand glowed, his eyes glowed.

The wound lessened, slowly knitting together. Richard held in the sigh of relief as he held Wally closer.

“hey,” Wally croaked out, “I’m not paying for this.”

Richard choked out a laugh, “shut up.”


End file.
